The proposal for the north-east corner of Scarborough Beach Road and West Coast Highway, approved by the Metropolitan Redevelopment Authority last June, would have featured two towers of 43 and 33 storeys.

Speaking on ABC radio this morning, Mr McGowan said he did not have an answer for why it had become unviable so quickly.

“That is a matter for the developer and they make decisions based on the market, their assessment of profitability and take-up at any given point of time,” he said.

“They were dead set and keen on going ahead, and they went through all the processes and obviously there was some controversy there last year but we were keen to see it happen.

“We can’t control what happens inside the company itself, what we can do is make sure we have good approval processes and an encouraging investment environment, but we’ll work with them to a time when we hopefully get a development up.”

Mr McGowan and the CFMEU have publicly backed the project, saying it would be a boon for jobs and tourism in WA.

“Obviously with one of these projects there’s hundreds if not thousands of jobs in it and there’s hotel rooms and that sort of thing, that’s what we’re trying to do in WA is make sure we maximise the tourism and the jobs out of these projects,” he told the ABC.

The MRA’s decision to allow new height levels infuriated locals who had earlier agreed to a 12-storey limit on all development after a long consultative process with all stakeholders, including the MRA.